Pressing machine



L. HOFFMAN.

PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYfi. 1919.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

6 SHEETSSHEET I. 45 35 z; 20 Q55; 3Q w muim'e 9/ L. HOFFMAN.

PRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATIQN FILED MAY 6. 1919.

1AM,59 Patented Jan. 31- 1922,

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L. HOFFMAN. PRES SING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1919.

Patented Jan. 31,; 1922.

6 SHEETS$HEET 3- L. HOFFMAN.

PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6,1919.

1 4 9 Patented Jan. 31 11922.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

L. HOFFMAN.

PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1919.

Patented Jan. 31; 11922 6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

L. HOFFMAN.

PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1919.

1, g 59 c Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

6 SHE'ETSSHEET 6. @ZQ

STATES PATET ,o F ICE.

LOUIS HOFFMAN, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA, ASS'IGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO

STEAM PRESSING IRON COMPANY, A CORPORATIl ION OF DELAWARE.

'rREssI NG MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS HOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Du-' 111th, in the county of St. Louis and State 5 of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pressing Machine's, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to {a pressing ma.

ment being pressed; the iron being sup- 15 ported over an ironing board or buck so as to be movable in all directions in a horizontal plane and the board or buck being movable to the right and leftof the operator,

the iron and board, or buck being brought 20 together by a vertical movement of one of them, preferably by raising the board, and a locking device being'furnished for holding the board against lateral movement during the pressing operations. 25

so construct the machine that the manipulations of the iron, the buck and the looking device may be effected speedily and conveniently by the operator'while in a sit- 3 ting posture. urtlher incidental objects will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

35 companying drawings 'wherein r 'Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine with the iron shown partly in section;- i

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereoif, v Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, illustrating the means for guiding the. ironing board in it's vertical movements,

Fig. 4 is a ,Fig. 5 'is a sectional view, on a larger scale than the preceding figures,illustrating the- Specification of LettersPatent.

A principal object olf the invention is to The invention is illustrated in the ac plan view with certain portions broken away,

ftrating the construction df ,the carriages,

parts, for movably supportand associated ing the iron.

, igs. 9 and 10 are sectional vlews on lines 99 and 1()1O respectively, of Fig. 8,

modification in which the iron is forced down upon the buck by air pressure,

, Figrl l is a detail sectional view of an air controlling valve employed in the modified construction, U

Fig. is a side elevation dfthe machine illustrating certain modifications in'the construction o f'the carriages and in the mech-" anism lfor moving the table;

'Fig.16 is a fragmentary planview of the carriages shown in Fig. 15', and

Fig. 17 is a sectio'nalview taken on line l717 of Fig. 16.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

In'the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figs 1 to 12 inclusive,

is a flat iron or tailors goose which may be of any desired sort but'which is preferably iron of the self heating type adapted to apply a moistening fluid, such as moist or superheated steam, to the goods or garment. 26 is a laterally and vertically movable ironing board or .table on; which the- WVOI'k may be placed For certain classes of wor I provide an ironing buck 27 which is supp rted' by metal strips 28, the'end's of which are bent'over at 29' to engage the edges of the ironing board 26. One end of each strip is provided preferably with a set screw-30 for fastening the buck to the ironin board in any desired" position thereon.

hose and other operative parts ofgthe:

machine are supported on a framework constructed preferably as"follows: The ironing table 26His arranged on a stand consisting of end'pieces 31, a top member 32 and transverse rods 33, 34, 35 and36. Supported' on the stand are a pair of uprights 37 carrying at their upper end a rframeworkfor the carriages from which the iron 25 is suspended; this framework consisting preferably offront and backT -irons. 38 conhectedby side Patented Jan 31, 1922.. Application filed Ill/lay 6, 1919. Serial No. 295,157. 4

rot

1 v ported upon two vertically pieces 39. On the upper and lower sides of the horizontal webs 40 of the T-irons' 38 are arranged tracks 41 for an eight-wheel carriage which has right and left or lateral movement with respect to the operator when facing the machine. The carriage is made up of front and rear castings consistlng, in each case, of an upper member 42 and a lower member 43 connected by a curved engage and run upon the rails 41. On the inner sides of castings 42, 43 are lugs 48 to which are secured two pairsof rails comprising, in each case, an upper rail 49 and a lower rail 50, between which run the Wheels 51 olf a second carriage which consequently has a forward and back movement with respect to the operator. The second carriage is made u l of a structure comprising members 52 united by a depending yoke 53 formed with asplit hub or boss 54 to receive the rod 55 from which iron 25 is suspended. The rod is adjustably clamped .to yoke 53 by bolt 56 passing through clamping lugs 57 on the boss 54. The iron 25 has a supporting member'58 engaged by a ball and socket joint 59 to the end of rod 55. The wheels 51, above referred to, are journaled between members 52 and metal strips 60 bolted to lugs 61, formed 'on the members 52. The horizontal frame which supports the carriages and the iron, as above desgribed, is preferably reinforced by stay rods 6 63. Y

iQnthe under side of table 26 is a board 64 thicker than table 2.6 but shorter and narrower, to which are journaled in re3esses 65 in the front and back edge of the-boa rd grooved rollers 66 that run upon longitudinal tracks 67 carried by. a frame-consl-sting of front and back angle irons 68 and 1 connecting strips 69. This frame is suparranged members '70 attached to a transverse bar 71. The

i bar is designed to be moved vertically by a the end members'31 5 treadle mechanism to be hereinafter .de-

scribed, andis guided at opposite ends on guide pins 72fixed to the end members 31 of the main frame of the machine. The

vertical members pass through bosses 73 on gulding members 74 held in place between the transversemods 33, 34, above referred to. A rock shaft 75 is journaled in of-the frame near the back of the machine. Fixed to the rock shaft are forwardly projecting arms 7 6f supporting the treadle board 77, the arms 76 extending under the transverse rod 36 which acts as a stop to limit the upward movement of the treadle. The treadle is normally drawn against the rod 36 by coiled sprlngs 78 attached at their upper ends to the transverse rod 35 and at their lower ends to short arms 79 on the rock shaft 75. At each end of the machine is a sprocket wheel 80 journaled on a stud 81 on theframe member 31. Link belts 82 are connected at one end to the arms 79, extend over the sprockets 80 and are connected at their opposite ends to the transverse bar 71 by eyebolts 83. The depression of treadle 77 raises the buck 27, with the work thereon, into contact with iron25.

The locking device for holding the table 1' 26 and the buck against lateral movement duringpressing operations is preferably constructed as follows: A strip 84 formed with perforations 85 is attached to the underside of the board 64, on which table 26 is supported, adjacent the forward edge of board 64. This perforated strip is adapted to be engaged by a locking bolt 86 which slides through perforations in the forked portion 87 of a casting 88 secured to the underside of the table supporting frame 68, 69. The member 88 is provided with bearings 89'fora bell crank 90 which engages the locking bolt 86. The depending arm 91'of the bell crank has attached thereto a knee pad 92. A coiled spring 93 extends from stud 94 on the arm 91 to a stud 95 on.member 88, this spring tending to hold'the looking bolt in engagement with strip 84.

While any sort of flat-iron orsad iron might. be used in connection with the machine, the machine is of particular advantage as .alabor saving appliance when an iron is used which is self heatedand provided 'with steam for controllably applying the moistening fluid, such as water, steam, or a mixture of the same, tothe goods during the pressing operation. The iron 25 shown in the drawings is an iron ,of thistype. It is made up preferably of a main or bottom section 96, and an upper section 97 provided with supports 99 for a handle 100.

The bottom section is formed with a cham- J ber lOlin which is arranged a burner of any suitable type 102 supplied with*gas through a flexible tube 103. The base 104 of the iron is formed with a steam distrib- Iuting chamber 105 and with minute. perforations 106 which extend through the ironing face bf the iron. The upper section 97 isformed with two steam generating or superheating passages 107, 108 separated by a web 109 which, however, falls short of the back of the iron whereby passages 107 and 108 are in communication with each other. Water or steam is admitted to the passage 107 through a valve casing 110 mounted on the cover plate 97, the valve chamber being connected to supply .water or steam by a pipe 111 and flexible tube 112. 113 is a controlling valve for the port 114 between valve casing 110 and the passageway 107. Itsv Stem 115 extends through a stufiing box 116 5 primarily as a labor saving device It is in this respect that former pressing ma chines of. thistype, for use in tailoring shops, have been deficient. The present machine reduces the expenditure of physical force on the part of the operator to a minimum. The operator can remain sitting during all ordinary pressing operations. The several manipulations involved in the use of the ma uchine. may be performed quickly, conveniently and without strained or awkward movements.

The pressing may be done either upon the table 26' or upon the buck 27; suitable adjustment being made of the height of the iron by raising .o/r lowering rod 55 in the yoke 53'. The garment is placed upon the table or buck and the latter is moved to the right or left of the operator to bring the .part of thework in front of the operatorand under the iron. The operator releases the table from the locking bolt Stir by pressing the knee against knee pad 92. The table can thenbe slid back and forth on tracks 67. Spring 93 operates to engage the locking bolt with the table to hold the latter in fixed position whenever the opera-' tor removes the knee from the knee pad 92. The table is moved by the left hand While the iron is manipulated by the right, the thumb of which controls'the application of moisture to the goods. The table is raised to bring the goods intocontact with the iron.

plied either with water, which case the steam in passing through the iron to the If the iron be supplied with steam.

The moistening of the goods by means of steam, the comparawater will be gene-rated into steam and'the steam superheated to a certain extent "in passing through the iron; or it may be suppliedwith steam, in which case the steam will be superheated in passing through the iron. In either case accurate control of the amount of steam,,its relative wetness or dryness, and its temperature may be controlled by the thumb lever.

In Figs. 13 and I4 is shown a modified construction for heavy work. In this construction the ironing table 120 rests upon the stand 121 and is without capacity for vertical movement. The iron 122 is sup-ported by a rod123 the upper end of which is pro- .videdwith a piston 124 arranged within a cylinder 125 supported from the carriage 126 corresponding to what was referred to as the second carria e in the machine previously described; spring 127 is interposed between piston 124 and the lower head 128 of the cylinder. Air is supplied to the upper end of the cylinder through a pipe 129, 130 between the sections of which is interposed a rotary control valve shown in section in Fig. 14, and comprising a cylindrical casing 131 in which is arranged a valve member 132 provided with a port 133 and a branch port 134. The port 133 is always in communication with pipe section 129 which leads to the cylinder 125., Normally port 134 communicates with an exhaust port 135,port 133 being out of register with pipe 130 which leads to the air compressor (not shown). The valve member has a crank 136 which is engaged with a treadle 137 whereby it may be turned from its normal position into the'position shown in Fig. 14 in which the cylinder 125 is supplied with air under pressure. The air pressure forces the'iron down upon the goods, this pressure being regulatable by means of the treadle. A

In Figs. 15 to 17 inclusive, I have shown a machine illustrating certain modi- 110 fications in the construction of the carriages for suspending the iron and in the mechanism for raising the 'table and moving it laterally. The frame Work for the carriages from which the iron is suspended consists 115 of front and back channel irons 138 connected by side pieces 139. The upper and lower horizontal flanges 140 of the channel irons 138 form tracks for the flanged wheels 141 of the four wheeled carriage 142 which 120 has right and left or lateral movement with respect to the operator facing the machine. The carriage 142 comprises two channel irons 143 spaced apart by the end plates 144 on which the wheels 141 are rotatably '125 mounted. The upper and lower horizontal flanges 145 of the channel irons 143 form tracks for the flanged wheels 146 of the second carriage 147 which consequently has a forward and backward movement with re- 130 frame. This frame is supported at eachend upon two vertically arranged pins 153 and 154 pivotally and loosely connected respectively to the forward ends of the rocker arms 155 and 156. The other ends of the arms 155 and 156 are pivotally connected respectively to the upper ends of the connecting bars 157 and 158, the lower ends of the bars 157 and 158 being connected to the arm 159 of the treadle mechanism which is similar to that shown in the precedin figures. Theframe is guided in its vertic movements by the guide pins 160 which project through the suitable apertures in the connecting strips 152 andware screwed into threaded sockets formed in the end frame members. Any downward or upward movement of the treadle will result in positively raising or lowering the table.

I claim:

1. In a pressing machine, the combination of 'a supporting frame, an ironing-board,

an ironsupported so as to be movable in a horizontal plane over the board, a vertically 7 movable supporting structure for the board,

and a spring which is stressed when the' a treadle pivoted tothe frame, a flexible power transmitting element, and an idler therefor, said flexible element being con-Y nected at one end to the vertically movable structure and at the other to the treadle,

treadle is depressed.

2. In a pressing machine, the combination of a supporting frame,'an ironing board, an iron supported so as to be movable in a horizontal plane over the board, a treadle pivoted to the frame, a spring which is stressed when the treadle is depressed, a cross bar guided to be movable vertically,

. idler sprockets on the frame, chains extending over said sprockets and attached at opposite ends to the bar and to the treadle, and vertical supports on the bar guided in the frame which carry the board.

3. In a pressing machine, the combination of a supporting frame, an ironing board, an iron supported soas to be movable in a horizontal plane over the board, a treadle pivoted to the frame, a spring which is stressed when the treadle is depressed, a cross bar guided to be movable vertically, idler sprockets on the frame,

chains extending over said sprockets and the operator, a treadle for raising said supporting structure, and a locking device pivoted to the vertically moving structureand adapted to be released by the knee of the operator for holding the board from movement on said rails.

. 5. In a pressing machine, the combination of a supporting frame, an ironing board supported thereon so as to be movable to the right and left of the operator, an iron sus pended from the frame soas to be movable in a horizontal plane over the board, means for moving the boardand iron together and supporting them by a vertical movement of one of them, comprising a treadle, and a locking device releasable by the knee of the operator for holding the board against lateral movement.

6. In a pressing machine, the combination of a supporting frame, an ironing board supported thereon so as to be movable to v the right and left of the operator, an iron suspended from the frame so as to be movable in a horizontal plane over the board, means for moving the board and iron together and separating them by a vertical movement of one of them comprising a treadle, a locking pin adapted to en'- gage the board, and a bell crank provided with a knee pad to move the pin out of engagement with the board. i

In a pressing machine, the combination of a supporting frame, an ironing board supported ther'eon so as to be movable to the right and left. of the operator, an iron suspended from the frame so as to be movable 1n. a horizontal plane over the board, means for moving the board and iron together and separating them by a vertical movement of one of them comprising a treadle, a locking pin adapted to engage the board, a bell crank provided with a knee pad to move the pin out of engagement with the board, and a spring which normally holds the pin in its engaged position.

8. In a pressing machine, the combination of a supporting frame, an ironing board thereon movable to the rightand left of the operator, an iron supported,-with capacity for verticalv adjustment, so as to be movable in a horizantal plane over the board, a buck adapted to be carried by the board having supports which are detachably en- .the board having supports which are detachably engaged with the edges of the board, means comprising a treadle for bringing the iron and board or buck together and separating them, and a locking device adapted to be released by the knee of the operator for holding the board and buck against lateral movement.

10. In a pressing machine, the combination of a stand, an ironing board supported on the stand, uprights on th stand, a frame carried by the uprights comprising a pair of horizontally disposed members having rails on their upper and lower surfaces, a carriage having pairs of upper and lower wheels to run on said rails, four rails on said carriage at right angles to the first mentioned rails, arranged in pairs one above the other and spaced apart in alignment with said upper and lower wheels respectively, a second carriag having wheels between said last named rails, and a depending yoke, a rod carried by said yoke, an

iron supported on the rod, and means forraising said board to bring the thereon against the iron.

11. In a pressing machine, the combination of a stand, uprights on said stand, a

garment frame on the uprights, an iron, means for supporting the iron from the frame so that it is movable in all directions in a horizontal plane, a vertically movable structure associated with the stand, a treadle for raising the same, a spring which is stressed when.

the treadle is depressed, a pair of trans- Verse rails carried by said vertically.- movable structure, an ironing board provided with rollers movable on said rails, locking means for holding the ironing board against lateral movement comprising a bell crank having a knee pad pivoted to said vertically movable structure, and a spring to maintain said locking means in operative position.

LOUIS HOFFMAN. 

